The Cartagena Manifesto was written by Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

 during the Colombian and Venezuelan War of Independence

Venezuelan War of Independence

-The First Republic:Criollos resented the mercantilist policies of Spain. Trade was only allowed in Pacific ports which was a terrible burden for Argentina, Paraguay and the Caribbean colonies. This is significant as Cuba and Puerto Rico were forced to allow free trade in 1763 by Britain and...

, after the fall of the First Republic, explaining with great detail and precision what he believed to be the causes of this loss. It was written in Cartagena de Indias

Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...

, on 15 December 1812. This is the first of Bolívar's public documents, which due to his later fame as the "Liberator of five nations," have become quite well known. Prior to this, Bolívar had been an officer in the Venezuelan army; now he was acting on his own. A few months after his arrival in Cartagena, he accepted a commission in the army of the United Provinces of New Granada

United Provinces of New Granada

The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1811 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as the Patria Boba. It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada. The government was a federation with a parliamentary system, consisting of a weak executive and...

, which later granted him permission to lead a force to free Venezuela, in what became known as the Admirable Campaign

Admirable Campaign

The Admirable Campaign was a military action led by Simón Bolívar in which the provinces of Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo and Caracas were conquered by the independentists...

.

The political, economic, social, and natural causes which Bolívar mentioned included:

• The use of a federal system
  Federalism
  Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
  
  , which Bolivar considered weak for a time of war
• Bad administration of the public income by the republican government
• The earthquake of Caracas of 1812
  1812 Caracas earthquake
  The 1812 Caracas earthquake took place in Venezuela on March 26, 1812 at 4:37 p.m. It measured 7.7 on the Richter magnitude scale. It caused extensive damage in Caracas, La Guaira, Barquisimeto, San Felipe, and Mérida...
  
  , which worsened the economic and political situation
• The impossibility of establishing a permanent army due to the intransigence of the general population
• The opposing influence of the Roman Catholic Church
  Roman Catholic Church
  The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
  
  , which clandestinely promoted anti-republican views

External links

• Manifiesto de Cartagena - Analitica.com (text of the Manifesto, in Spanish)
• Manifiesto de Cartagena - Monografías.com (commentary on the Manifesto, in Spanish)